Arc's Rise - Book 1: Memory
by WildCobra
Summary: After waking up with a throbbing pain, Arc,, walks the Mojave Desert with a vengeance, but here in the in New Vegas, there is a hole lot more of concern to the package he carried then the bullet that went through his skull. (Genres: Adv/Rom/Dram/Susp/Friend) [Description Updated - 12/4/14]
1. Nothing But A Blur

**~ Here is a Fallout story that will be generated into a set of series, traveling through New Vegas to DC. This series I've kinda wanted to make for awhile, so if you don't like this kind of story, well you'll just have to find a different one that suits your Taste, But For Those That Have Stayed, Hope You Enjoy IT Very Much, Don't Forget To Watch Out On My Profile For My Other Stories And Updates On Them. ~**

**[ Speaking In Thought; * And _Italicized_] **

**[Places/Misc; " And _Italicized]_**

**[Displayed Words/ Letters/Notes/Info; - And/Or Bold]  
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***Disclaimer: I Don't Own Anything Within The Fallout Universe, It Belongs To Said Company, Bethesda, And All I Own Are My OC's***

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><p><strong><em>'<span>Nothing But A Blur<span>'_**

The feeling of dizziness, sore aching limbs, bone dry throat, slow but heavy breathing, and the feeling of numbness, as the surroundings around him begin to form from a white blanket into a spinning ceiling fan, he began to sit up slowly, but a spike of pain rushed quickly through his head causing him to jolt up quickly causing the metal bars at the head of the medical bed to knock over an old rusty metal chair near it with a loud crash into the old wooden floor boards, but as he grabbed onto his head the pain increased further, eyes shut tightly, teeth clenching together, slightly rocking back and forth while slowly rubbing both sides of his head, attempting to subdue the throbbing pain that didn't seem to stop with no end, which he found frustrating.

*****_W-were am I and why does this pain in my head seem to never end?!_** ***

He thought the knocking pain would never cease to stop. It felt as a never-ending pain that seemed like hours to him, then it abruptly stopped, he flashed his eyes open, the felt something small and solid slide out from his neck, he grabs his neck then turns his head to see a person, old, weathered, and rough-looking in a dirty pair of black overalls with a bandana around his neck, he picks up the old metal chair, sets it upright and takes a seat himself in it, the old man then looks at the bewildered man in the bed and gives a small heart-filled laugh.

"Your awake, how 'bout that. . .you've been out cold for a couple of days now," as the old man was speaking to him, he attempts to move out of the old bed, but comes to near falling over if not for the old man catching him.

"Woah now, easy there. Easy. Why don't you just relax for a second, get your bearings, let's see what the damage is," the old man sat quietly for few moments before asking "How 'bout your name, can you tell me your name?"

The old man asked, still trying to shake off the side effects from waking up, he rubbed his forehead while attempting to remember what was his real name. He could only vaguely remember hearing the name _Arc_ being said a few times, but he found that it was the only thing that came to his memory on any names, but better than nothing.

"Arc. . . .my name is Arc," the old man nodded "Huh. . . .can't say that is what I'd pick for you, but if that is your name then that is name, I'm Doc Mitchell welcome to Goodsprings."

*****_Wait. . . Goodsprings. . .that sounds od-*_ As Arc went into trying to remember how he ending up in his current state in the first place, Doc waited a few more moments for him to collect his thoughts together then coughed into his hand, regaining Arc's attention from his train of thought.

"Now, I hope you don't mind, but I had to go rooting around there in your noggin to pull all the bits of lead out, I take pride in my needle work, but you'd better tell me if I left anything out-of-place." Doc, reaches under the chair and pulls out a large metal box, or at least Arc thought it was a box, and handed it to Arc.

_*Lead? My Noggin?. . .Wait he doesn't mean. . . .*_ that's when it came back to his memory hard, he was shot in the head, his life was flashing before his eyes, literally, then the darkness consumed him only leaving the last sound he heard that came from the gun that was in front of him going off by a man in a checkered suit, but couldn't place a face on the person nor why he was there left for dead.

Arc slowly inspected the strange metal object and saw it was labeled _**"**__**Reflectron**__**"**_ and had a red dial at the bottom of it in the 'off' direction, Arc switched the machine on then the machine whirred up and the right screen displayed, in a low orange lettering, **'Would You Like To Open Reflection Screen?'**, Arc hesitated for a second, thinking on what he would look like with a deformed skull from a bullet wound, before hesitantly answering "Yes," and with that the words dispersed and the bigger display screen to the left cycled up rapidly for a few seconds before slowing and coming to a complete halt.

Arc jolted back, a look of surprise and disbelief, he looked perfectly fine, except for a small scar that ran down the top of his right eye ending at the bottom of his eye, and it showed from the top of his head to the top base of his collar bone. As he examined himself the right screen came on again in low orange lettering, but this time displaying information to him.

**- Sex: Male -**

**- Race: African-American - **

**- Age: 22 - **

**- Hair: Terrorsaur (Dark Green) -**

As Arc continued on for a few more moments before turning the machine back off surprised, but still satisfied. He gave a sigh of relief and looked back towards Doc Mitchell, "Thank you, I really appreciate you saving my life, even if I have only a vague memory of what my life once was." Doc chuckled at his thankfulness.

"Good to see the bullet didn't affect your charm none." Doc waved at Arc, motioning him to stand and needlessly to say he stood up without any problems at all. He rolled his shoulders and stretched out his arms, "Looking good so far, why don't you go on and take a seat on my couch in the next room and we go through a couple of questions? See if your dogs are still barking." They both went over to the next room with a large very light green couch and at an adjacent angle from it a bright old torn single chair. Arc sat on the couch, which to him felt rather a bit uncomfortable and Doc sat it in the single chair then proceeded to pull out a clip board and a pencil, "I got a form for you to fill out, so I can get a sense of your medical history. Just a formality, ain't like I expect to find you got a family history of getting shot in the head." He handed Arc the clipboard and pencil, "Right then let's get started then shall we."

Merely a good two hours had passed by, being asked many questions and doing some physical test. Doc was finishing up the last of Arc's examination, which to Arc's relief he glad to be finished with them. "Well, that's all she wrote," Arc let out a sigh from mental and somewhat physical exhaustion.

"I don't have nothing to compare it to, so maybe you'd better just have a look at the results. See if it all seems right to you." Arc took the clipboard that, was replaced sheet of paper on it, turns out he has a knack in for survival, guns, and speech with the traits of a **'Fast Shot'** and a **'Good Natured'** person. He gave the clipboard back to Doc and nodded to him with satisfaction "Alright, I guess that about does it. Come with me I'll see you out." Arc followed Doc from the living room space through the small hallway stopping at the front door. "Here these are yours. Was all you had on you when you was brought in." Doc gave him an old dirty pack that had pretty good weight on it as he grabbed it from Doc.

"I hope you don't mind but I gave the note a look. I thought it might help me find a next of kin, but it was just something about a platinum chip." The mention of a platinum chip rang a bell to Arc, but he couldn't think anything of it, so he let it slip to the back of his mind for now. Doc reached behind him and pulled out a device unknown to him and handed it over to him. "Well, if you're heading back out there, you ought to have this. They call it a Pip-Boy. I grew up in one of them vaults they made before the war. We all got one." He showed Doc showed Arc on how to use the Pip-Boy and what each tab on the device was usually used for during the times he had it.

"Ain't much use to me now, but you might want such a thing, after what you been through I know what it's like, having something taken from you. . ." Arc noticed a bit of sadness in Doc's tone the way he said the last part, as if something was still lingering around him, but he decided that its best not to pry in his life, just after Doc saved his very own. "Also you might want to put this on too, so the locals don't pick on you for lacking modesty. Never was much my style anyway." It took a second for Arc to realize that he wasn't really wearing anything but a skin-tight shirt and white boxer shorts, without hesitation, he accepted the jumpsuit given to him and noticed the number **_'21'_** written on the back of it, guess that was the vault he was from he thought, and put on the new worn out clothing. "Thanks for patching me up, Doc." Showing a light-hearted smile.

"Don't mention it. It's what I'm here for. You should talk to Sunny Smiles before you leave town. She can help you learn to fend for yourself in the desert. She'll likely be at the saloon. I reckon some of the other folks at the saloon might be able to help you out, too. And the metal fella, Victor, who pulled you outta your grave, anyway, you ever get hurt out there, you come right back. I'll fix you up, but try not to get killed anymore." Doc shook his hand and left back down the hallway, leaving Arc on his own.

He put down the pack and checked the contents inside: a digital note chip marked **_'Mojave Express Delivery Order'_**, 8 stimpaks, 342 bottle caps, 12 bobby pins, 5.56mm pistol, the word **_'Luck'_** Engraved on its hilt, 50 full cylinder ammo cartridges, and a black hatchet with 4 green strokes at the axe's edge reach only halfway diagonally through the metal head and a short leather strap looped through the end of the wooden handle on the axe. Arc then put everything except the gun and hatchet, back into pack and began strapping the hatchet to his waist belt and placing the gun into a weapon holster he found at the bottom of the pack, hoisting it over his shoulder, Arc start making his way through the wooden door and to the outside, into the desert Mojave Wasteland.

The first thing that he noticed was the sun blurring his vision for a few moments, similar to the way he away, but not so intense and the heat, quickly baring down on him, then the dry desert air-filled his lungs, he now took in his surroundings, scanning over the area, he noticed a few decent amount of people tending to plants, and the local small animal herds of bighorners and brahmin. The jagged black concrete roads slowly eroding with time as the dust blows across the ground and the old decrypted builds in many different shapes and sizes stick out spread out from each other. Arc took the moment to think, _"Now, for a plan. . . . .find Sunny Smiles and get to get something to drink and food to eat, maybe even a place to stay the night, if I'm even that lucky, hell I just might be. Came back from death didn't I?"_ Arc laughed inwardly, and set out to begin his current goals.


	2. 1 Is Enough 2 Is Tough

**[ Speaking In Thought; * And _Italicized_] **

**[Places/Misc; " And _Italicized]_**

**[Displayed Words/ Letters/Notes/Info; - And/Or Bold]  
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***Disclaimer: I Don't Own Anything Within The Fallout Universe, It Belongs To Said Company, Bethesda, And All I Own Are My OC's***

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><p><strong><em><span>'1 Is Enough 2 Is Tough'<span>_**

Walking down the hill, Arc scanned the buildings, each having no real purpose other than to sever as housing except for two other buildings sitting next to each other. The building close to him was the _**'Goodsprings General Store'**_ to him was a good first place to start looking for information and to gather up some supplies some supplies. Coming up on the front of the store, he could hear some faint rustling and the sound of shattering glass sound coming from the building next to it, but paid no mind to it. He went into the store and was met with a few seconds of a cool breeze, then a greeting. "You looking to buy some supplies?" said the man behind a damaged counter, "Well yeah, maybe some food and drink as well if you have any also could you point me where I can find Sunny Smiles?" Arc replied. The man waved Arc over and he followed suit and held out his hand. "Names Chet, welcome to my humble store, not so humble in its current state, but it'll suffice for now. Sunny Smiles is the blonde girl in the over at the Saloon next-door, that's usually where she hangs out around if she's not hunting all day with that annoying mutt of hers." Arc was a little put off by Chet's attitude towards Sunny Smiles, but he had yet to meet her himself. "So, what'cha lookin' for besides the food?" Arc held out his pip-boy and showed Chet the list of things he need that Doc told him what would be useful out in wasteland.

**- Radaway (10), Rad-X (10), and Med-X (8)- **

Chet, nodded left to the room in the back of the store then returned minutes later with an armful of the things in one hand, and a clipboard in the other. Arc was glad to see Chet had the things he requested. Chet set the supplies down on the counter started point and writing back and forth between the items and the clipboard, after a few moments of waiting, Chet tapped on the clipboard and wrote down one last thing. "All of this will bring your total to. . . .300 caps." Arc eyes widened at the amount,"Well, now isn't this something. . . ." Arc let out a sigh of defeat, having a feeling that maybe this was worth the amount, he put down his bag and pulled out the container with the caps and counted out the amount he owed and handing them over to Chet. "Well pleasure doing business with, come back anytime." Arc just merely nodded, grabbing the items, placing them into the bag, and leaving the store with only 42 caps left.  
><em>*Damn, looks like I'm not coming back here anytime soon, and i forgot to consider food. . . .maybe I should've bought less to get both. Well now that's not important now, Time to go meet this Sunny Smiles*<em>

Arc made his was towards the Saloon moving around the old prewar bikes towards the door. "Well here goes nothing" he pushed open the door to the saloon, but as soon he set one foot inside, he went flying right back out the door, and with nothing to stop his fall, he landed hard on the old wooden walkway losing of his breath on impact. Arc laid down there for a few moments, wheezing and coughing, as he groaned and finally caught his breath again, he sat up to see that somebody was on him, a woman, from the way he could tell she was lying on him with and her head laying on his stomach, was sent flying into him.

"Hey, woman you ok there?" he groaned after no response or movement from her, he rolled her off gently and stood up, dusting off the dust and some dirt from the wood, he then looked down at her and his breath caught in his throat, she was beautiful in his eyes, dark red hair, skin an unusual dark pale, his eyes began took wonder down over her chest, he couldn't help but look over her body, how her curves shaped nicely through the leather armor even if the armor was an odd sight with two shoulder guards instead of the common single strapped one. Her eyes closed, he could see that she was still breathing, chest slowly and steadily rising and falling, but then noticed a that there was a small deep gash on her arm. It was bleeding out a slowly dark red and another running up the length of her forearm stopping at her elbow on her other arm. He gently picked her up and moved her towards the left side of the saloon towards the farthest of the old wooden chairs in front of the saloon window. It provided some cover for her from being shot, or being attacked by whoever caused this inside, but exposing her to the outside desert wilds of the wasteland outside, but it will have to do for now seeing no other option.

Quickly remember what just happened, he reminded himself to come back and help the unconscious woman, he looked towards the saloon door, moving in quickly, but then coming to an abrupt halt to see inside to see a man, wearing a black vest **_'NCRCF'_** written on the back, inside holding down another a woman bent over the bar. Another man in overalls was on the ground soaking in blood with three bullet holes to his back. The woman's dress covered in blood smudges, ripped at the shoulders, and blood on coming from her mouth and nose. The man had a gun down on her temple, and a blood soaked knife in the other. She was struggling to get loose from under him was jerking and kicking to get free, but then froze when he spoke in a cold harsh tone. "I'm **DONE** being nice. If You don't hand Ringo over soon, I'm going to get my friends and we're going to have some fun with the lot of you, they've been itchin' to get their hands on some fresh blood, then we'll raze this town to the ground leaving only the smell of burnt flesh and another dead town swept under the dirt of this hell hole wasteland, **GOT IT?!**"

The woman on the bar could do nothing but nod, as she did so, he slowly moved the gun away then gave a swift knee to her stomach. She stumbled over coughing up blood while groaning from another source of pain. He stood over her, chuckling to himself, he knelt and used the knife to lift her head, starring into her strained soft eyes, then asked "See, that wasn't so hard was it? Now Then, where in this shithole of a town, is he hiding out at, huh?" Just as she was about the to answer, she looked away from the man's eye and saw a hatchet, Arc, unknowingly on instinct, took the axe from his belt and silently crept up behind the man, having had enough of his ruthless brutality that was being or had been inflicted upon people in the bar.

"Hey pal, what's your name?" Arc asked, the man jumped up in surprise then regained his composure as he turned and answered Arc, "Joe Cobb, What, we got some kind of a problem?" waving his knife around the scene. "No, no problem at all, because I already have a solution for it," Cobbs scoffed at that reply. "What is that supposed to be some kind of a thr-," Arc didn't give him the time, as he swiftly swung his marked-hand axe down on Cobb's neck ending him with only gurgling coming from his mouth, crimson red blood spewing out of his neck over Arc's jumpsuit, dropping his knife and gun then falling onto the ground as a fresh corpse.

"You alright there?" Arc offered his hand to the woman on the ground, accepting his offer of help, she spit out more blood, attempting to rearrange her dress, and wipe of the near dried and fresh blood "Thanks for saving my ass just then, names Trudy, looks like this town just got itself dragged into the middle of something we shouldn't have anything to do with." Arc turned around and gripped onto the axe's handle, freeing it from Joe Cobb's blood stained corpse, shaking the fresh crimson from it and giving it a few test spins, he tied the axe's strap back to his side, then turned around back to Trudy. "Nice to make your acquaintance Trudy, names Arc, So. . . .I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that this Joe person over here, I just killed, isn't the only person looking for this Ringo guy is he?" Trudy looked at Arc, now seeing he wasn't involved with the now dead Joe Cobb, and let the slow smile show the crept from her lips.

"Yeah, 'bout a week ago, Ringo, comes into town. Survivor of an attack on his caravan, he says. Bad men were searching after him and he needed a place to hide. We figured he was just in shock, which shows just how wrong we were, so we gave him a place to lie low for a while. We really didn't actually expect anyone to show up and come here looking for him." He was slightly confused by that and wanted to find out more on the situation from Ringo himself. "Where is Ringo Now?" Trudy hesitated for a second, but then answered "He's holed up at the abandoned gas station up the hill, near Doc's house." That's when he remembered _*Right, almost forgot check back on the other girl* _

Turning quickly on his feet heading for the saloon door without another word to Trudy, but as he was about to leave she stopped him. "Wait. Look. I'm grateful for your help and all, but this town needs a someone like you now. Cobbs crew, the Powder Gangers as they are known around the wasteland after they took over the prison, knows that he came up here looking for Ringo and now that he is dead. . . .they'll suspect something isn't right. . . .if he's a no-show. . . .they'll be comin' here lookin' for blood." Arc started rubbing his chin in thought for a minute before nodding to Trudy, "Alright, then, but I can't defend this town on my own, what just happened there was on instinct and luck, and I couldn't stand watching what he was doing." he paused for a moment and came up with another plan of action, "If what you say is true, then you need to get as many people as you can that can fight, get cover setup at the front of the saloon, and send someone to come find me if they come sooner than forty minutes." Trudy, let go of a breath she didn't know she was holding, now relived that he wasn't just going to leave them to their fate of unknown torture and death.

Arc reminded Trudy forty minutes to get any able bodies as a defense against an assault on the town, Arc was then out the saloon door, but then paused remembering the injured girl, looking over to his left to see that she is just the way he left her, except that she wasn't. . . .she was gone, with only a dripping blood trail turning off toward the direction he originally came from. Arc began to panic, blame himself, wondering what had happen to her, even though he didn't know the girl he still blamed himself for not taking more caution in making sure that it there were no potential threats around. Arc pushed back that thoughts of fault and began to follow the blood trail with a quickened pace.

He found that the trail had moved up towards the gas station Trudy told him where Ringo was holding up at, hiding away from the Powder Gangers. The blood trail ended at the door leading inside the gas station, there he stopped and heard muffled yelling, clanging of metal falling to the ground, then _-bang-,_ A shot went off a long silence swept by, then Arc made his way towards the door, he reached for the door knob, but it came towards him, then out in the middle of the doorway, out came the woman and the other person bleeding from shoulder, to which Arc could only assume was Ringo and the fact that his head was down, over her shoulders being dragged, Arc started to move towards her, but then heard the pullback of a gun, he looked at them and saw it was the woman, with hard bright yellow eyes staring right at him daring him to make the wrong move, who had her gun out pointed directly at him.

"Who. . . .the fuck. . . .are you!?"

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><p><strong>~Yeah Chapter 2, Finally Out, If Anyone Was Confused On The Armor Description For Her, She's Wearing The Wander's Armor From Fallout 3!, There Clears It Up, Hope You Enjoyed As Much I Enjoyed Writing It, Also Looking May Be Looking For Beta Reade For This Story To Correct The Grammar Mistakes I've Probably Made, Will Let You Know When. Good Day!~<strong>


	3. High Tension

**~ Welcome To Chapter 3, Nothing Really Much To Say, Except for after the story. Reviews Would Be Much Appreciated, But None The Less Enjoy The Story! As For Disclaimers: I Don't Own Any Part Of The Fallout Universe, Just My OC's ~**

**[ Speaking In Thought; * And _Italicized_] **

**[Places/Misc; " And _Italicized]_**

****[Displayed Words/ Letters/Notes/Info; - And/Or Bold]****

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><p><em><span><strong>'High Tension'<strong>_

"You have until I reach to five, start talking!" Arc was dumbfounded. He just stood there like a kid finding the _"#1 issue of Grognak the_ _Barbarian." _shaking he head, he needed to think carefully "What? A night stalker got your tongue?! Three seconds!" Now able to think clearly, Arc reach for his axe slowly with his other hand up, she only gave him a face with anger and distrust, but made no move seeing she had the upper hand still watching his movement closely. He untied the axe's leather strap and tossed it in front of him landing near her feet. Next he started to move for his gun, but she halted him. "Don't you even think about it, turn slowly with your back facing me, with your hands up, then move backwards. . . slowly until I say stop." Arc found it to be very uneasy having his back to another wielding a gun, but he complied nonetheless. Arc was just a mere few inches away from barrel of the gun before coming to a stop. "Don't Move," she let Ringo down onto the ground, Ringo landing flat on his face still unconscious, but came distracted at her wounds began to sting and burn again she winced at the pain that shot in her arms which the slight distraction was one she now came to regret. Arc quickly took the opportunity, he spun around and darted forward for the gun, kicking the axe out of way, he smacked the barrel of the gun up and grabbed at her free hand and pushed her back into into the door of the station pinning both arms over her head.

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><p>She clenched her teeth yelling out number of words that would make a supermutant think twice before attacking, trying to pry his hands off her wrist from the iron grip, running painfully down her arms, then stopped her frantic kicking coming to close that she wasn't going anywhere. She looked up at him and saw that he wasn't smiling like a Raider ready to have his <em>'Fun' <em>with her or a Legionnaire getting ready to use her a his _'Tool'_, it was just a. . . blank stare. Soft, dark green eyes just blankly staring back at her as if waiting or studying for her next move. Her eyes began to snake their way down, taking in his dark toned skin, the scar running down over his right eye, the mohawk that donned on his head, that usually female raiders or fiends she saw would have, but it suit him well even was taller then most terrorsaurs, but it made her heart trip and skip a beat. _*What the fuck? Did I. . .NO! This isn't happening again.*_ Quickly crushing the thoughts that just came, she now came back towards what she was focused on finishing.

"Well, either get it over with already or let me go so I can end this!" Arc was puzzled at that remark. "Get it over with? You think I'm here to kill you?" She was surprised to his remark as well, but still didn't believe what she just heard. "Why else would you be here huh? You, that scumbag Joe Cobb, and the rest of your psychotic gang, going around terrorizing people along the roads and taking what isn't yours not giving a shit who you hurt!" she attempted to knee him, but in the state of her condition, it was futile as her knee was stopped by his free hand. He took her, placing his between her legs pushing her up, and hoisted her up with his hand, that is still holding her wrists together squeezing tighter then before causing her to let out a cry of pain, bringing her up to his eye level then leaned in closer to her with a calm, but now agitated face. "Look here, I don't want to hurt you and I'm not really the person who goes straight fighting people without reason, but I don't go around fitting in anyone with a low-life degenerate like that to a person who just happen to save their life while taking care of pest like that."Stunned and unable to speak again she was at lost. They didn't move at all from the way they were currently in, until coughing caught their attention. _*Fuck, he's starting to wake up and now if he tries run again were screwed, this WHOLE town is screwed* _that was all she could do was think for the moment

Arc merely turned his head to the side and comes to find Ringo barely managing to set himself upright spitting out dirt and blood. "W-where the hell am I?" Ringo attempted to stand up using his arms, but fell back down grabbing at his left shoulder remembering why it was bleeding. "Karma. . .Karma where in . . .the hell am I. . . you crazy. . . bitch huh?!" Ringo was out like a light again, this time from his own accord _*How has this guy survived out here this long?*_ Arc though, but he'd ponder onto it later as he heard Karma, which he found out her name from the now again unconscious Ringo, let out a breath of relief. He turned back to her and he could feel her tense up and become slightly nervous, he stared at her for a few more moments then slowly began to loosen his hold on her and move his knee from up under her, when she was finally let go he picked up his axe, then spoke calmly while walking over to Ringo and hiking him over his shoulder. "Now that I've go Ringo, I need to hide him, so while I'm doing that I need you to go get patched up at Doc's place, something quick that will able you to help fight off the Powder Gangers, then get down to the bar and help with the defenses, I'll be there shortly." With that Arc jogged off down the hill and vanished behind a few old buildings past the school. Karma just stood there hit mentally with a brick wall baffled at what she was told to do and the fact the the Powder Gangers are headed here! _*What the hell happened while I out!* _She shook her head and was forced to listen to his advice, now feeling fatigued from the ordeal from both Ringo and the stranger she didn't know. _*Why was there never anyone like him in DC? Wait what the hell am I thinking! Clear head Karma, new task - defend town then have a 'Chat' with that asshole* _With that she headed off towards Doc Mitchell's place to see about her wounds.

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><p>The town was ready as they could ever be ready for the scrimmage. townsfolk were mainly armed with 10mm pistols and few even with hunting rifles. Karma had her wounds bandaged up to the best they could be, also given a few stimpak shots to help heal the wounds, while having her own arsenal ready at hand, A hunting shotgun, 3 spears, and a 10mm submachine gun. Everyone ready as they can be waited for any sign of the Powder Gangers, but after a long while they were only meet with the silence of the desert wind blowing and they occasional tumble weed moving about. Some folk became rather impatient, wanting to return to their homes seeing that this might be a fluke to them, but Trudy, Karma and a few others began arguing with the folk that were eager to leave until an explosion went off past the rusted water tower legs behind a small building, then the building itself exploded a huge gaping hole through both sides of it. Debris flew everywhere, one person was down holding onto life by a thread from a wooden plank that pierced right into his chest, another dead with a crushed skull by an old concrete chunk. People were panicking and shouting at each other, Trudy trying to keep everyone in order, all except Karma. She kept her cool and zone out the commotion, keeping a steady finger of the trigger of her submachine gun, eyes waiting for movement behind the cloud of dirt and debris, then all hell broke loose.<p>

"START SHOOTING! NOW!" Arc came running through the blown through building, followed suit by a dog and two other females one of them the girl he was looking for Sunny Smiles and another in an old prewar dress and boots bruises and cut on her head, running out of the dust cloud axe and gun in both hand, blood dripping from his right hand and axe, Everyone was speechless, even Karma was lost was lost for words, but as Arc'a small group reached up to the make-shift defenses, Arc became puzzled and annoyed by everyone not following suit. "WHAT IN THE HELL IS GOING ON!? WHY IS NO ONE SHOOTING!?"As soon as he said that screams, howls, murderous laughs, and a high rugged voice came from the same torn building. "Well boys looks like we're having some fun TONIGHT!" then out came a large group of men came poring out and from around the building "Fuck, why doesn'to anyone listen these days."

Arc just remained in facing the townsfolk and his back towards the group of men that continued their antics of howling, yelling, laughs, some even whistling and grabbing at their junk eyeing towards the females. The some of the townsfolk were still as statues, few were shaking nervously and sweat beating rapidly clear as day off them. The rest who were unwavered stood behind their defenses and kept their guns pointed at the rowdy group of men among that group Karma, Trudy, and Sunny Smiles were more then ready to fight, but Karma became distracted again, not by her wounds, but by Arc and the blank state she noticed he went into again. Karma found it strange and somehow calming but then he turned around towards the Powder Gangers and gave them a warning, "Now that you've chased us here and see that we weren't playing any games, It be best for you to just turn around don't come back messing with good people that don't want any trouble." They just merely laughed at Arc's warning and one of them shouted back at him "You think we give two brahmin shits about the people? You think we'll just walk on out here and let you get away with killing 3 of our guys?! Well you BUDDY have another thing coming to you as soon as Cobb comes out here."

Arc shook his head turned back to the bar only only saying, " Well that's were your wrong." silence eroded the area neither of the two groups moved towards each other, then the sound of dragging Trudy went wide-eyed and let out a small gasp catching Karma and Sunny's attention, them they both went wide-eyed and saw exactly what Arc was doing. _* Oh no don't tell me that is Cobb. . .Is he a idiot!? He'a gonna get this town slaughtered!*_ Karma thought. Arc lifted Cobb's body, walked past shocked townsfolk, then hurled his s-bleeding body at the Powder Gangers, they moved out the way, looked down, and became silent seeing that it was now Cobb, dead with a huge deep slice into his neck. The one that was yelling at Arc, began huffing and grunting, each becoming shorter then in turned into a full blown rage of anger, the rest of his group following suit. He brandished his weapon, a sharp rusted machete, pointed at Arc and the people behind him. "**KILL HIM**." The Powder Gangers branded their various weapons and charged the townsfolk. Arc slightly turned his head nodding, as charged himself. Karma and Trudy both in unison gave the townsfolk the order "**FIRE!**" Now The fight for Goodsprings began.

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><p><strong>~ Sorry for the slow updates had writers block and this chapter might be shorter then the others, but wanted to give something to read and hey I'm kinda getting the hang of the lower case words and the next chapter will include the EPIC BATTLE OF GOODSPRINGS! Also There Will Be Longer Chapters After This One And With Good Details, Also If Anyone Has Any Extra Ideas Or Things They Don't See In Some Fallout Stories, I'm Open To Suggestions. Chapter 4 Will Be Out Soon! Hope you enjoyed! ~<strong>


	4. Scent of Blood & Death

**~ Well. . .due to few, I'll actually make an attempt to stop with the capitalization of each word(s), even though It'll kill me a little inside, I'll manage and I will most likely begin to start doing 1st and 3rd person the best I can to switch up the feeling/rise of the story without getting everyone confused. Anyway, I know It's short, but I need to give you guys something to read, explanation at the bottom, but without further delay enjoy the story! ~ **

**Disclaimer: Ah you know which is mine. . .right?**

**[ Speaking In Thought; * And _Italicized_] **

**[Places/Misc; " And _Italicized]_**

****[Displayed Words/ Letters/Notes/Info; - And/Or Bold]****

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><p><span><strong><em>'Scent of Death &amp; Blood<em>_'_**

**3rd Person P.O.V.**

The sound of gunfire and screaming mixed with the scent of fresh blood dawned on anyone in or near the border of Goodsprings. The townsfolk had a decent foothold keeping some of the escaped convicts at bay, but a few managed to fully charge through and slip through the hail of gunfire. One of the few who broke through their lines had managed to butcher 1 unlucky person who was cowering in fear behind a crate being brutally chopped away at his chest, with a sharp rusted machete, another convict went after an old man shooting a revolver at the other convicts still in front of them. The old man barely noticed the knife, if not for its reflection on it at the last second. The old man smiled and quickly made short work of the convict as he took a step backwards dodging the convicts knife, grabbed the back of his head slamming his head into the wooden defense, causing the convict to fall then drop the knife and grab his face at the pain, then shot him right between the eyes. "Don't think it's so easy to sneak up and kill of ol' Easy Pete ya hear!" he laugh then duck undercover after a bullet flew by him.

Trudy was struggling to wrestle her hunting rifle free from the last of the few who broke through, but this one had the most muscle and bulk on him, how anyone could've missed shooting him was just crazy she thought still struggling to take back hold of her gun. He was viciously smiling and chuckling while looking down on her bruised face with excitement having to barely even struggle with her small arms trying to pry free her weapon from him. Keeping a tight grip on the gun with his left hand, he grabbed Trudy's neck with his right and started squeezing pushing her down towards the ground onto her knees. Trudy instantly let her grip go of the gun and grabbed at her neck trying to pry his grip from her neck, but it only made him put more pressure on her neck. She was gasping desperately for air but the strength in her began to dwindle down and her vision started to become a blur, since she especially didn't have time for recovery from the earlier ordeal with Joe Cobb. Her eyes were slowly closing, becoming nothing but darkness and seeing the man still smile as he was taking the life from her, but she was finally able to breathe in the much-needed air as his grip loosen suddenly. She started coughing and greedily began breathing in air into her lungs. Her sight began to recover quickly, she looked up and saw the man who was strangling the her had now lost smile and his eyes became dull then slowly his body began to slump down towards her.

She moved out of the way the of the falling convict and noticed the weapon that saved her life twice in one day was deeply imbedded into the middle of his back. The last convict behind their defense took note that some of the townsfolk had started to take aim at him, seeing that he was the only one left after pausing his brutal chopping on another unlucky person, but quickly seeing that his chance of survival was very thin he quickly spotted his last kill letting a vicious smile slowly creep up around his face. He stood on his feet, letting out his battle cry, and charged forward. The few who weren't firing at the convicts across from them now focused their attention behind them and fired on the charging convict. The convict was being hit by every other bullet, but still keep pressing on despite the rain of bullets hitting him. The convict didn't even get close though as he was sent flying back hard into the ground as a spear had punched through his chest and out his back.

Karma had sent her second spear into the now dead convict. she took hold of her last speak and the hunting shotgun then bolted past their makeshift defenses for the Powder Gangers on the other side, seeing that their gunfire and come down to a few potshots, due to their lack ammunition, _*Time to pull one from the old book, Run-N-Gun!*_ Time had slowed down some for Karma aimed her spear at the farthest one and threw it as hard as she could causing her arms to scream with pain, but adrenaline took hold and made the pain subdue for now. As she landed, the spear hit, right into the gangs wood-be sniper's lower stomach killing him instantly. Still moving quickly she slung her shotgun from around her back, then with speed unknown to them, dispatch three more of the of the convicts with ease. "Already people, lets take the trash out!" she yelled to the at the shocked people near the bar. One by one the all began to yelp and cheer and moved together towards the now fazed powder gangers, still keeping the fire on the gang of convicts.

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><p><span><strong>Arc's P.O.V<strong>

After helping Trudy off the ground, again, I moved over to the convict's body and pulled the axe out from his back. Seeing the colors of light and dark red blood meshing together, pouring out on both sides of his body. Giving the axe a few spins I tied it back to the side of the belt holster looked up back to Trudy and gave her a smile, which she returned herself. Now I would've gone and finish cleaning up with the rest of the people of Goodsprings to finish off the few remaining powder gangers, but that is until I heard grunts of pain mixed with harsh rasped coughing. _*Why in the hell can't things just be simple*_. I looked back down to see that the convict I thought was surely dead, due to the damage had went in deep enough even severing the middle of his spine, when much to my surprise still kickin', without the actual kicking. Seeing that the now disabled convict wouldn't be able to go anywhere any time soon, I decided to see if I could get some information from the big guy. I grabbed his left shoulder and flip him on his back, which he let out a groan of pain, but I didn't see the mercy in people who seemed to take pleasure in causing pain and grief in others.

"Alright big fella', I need some answers, seeing that you aren't going to be getting up anytime soon, where are the rest of you low-life idiots hiding so I can kick the shit out of who ever is leading you scumbags and where could I find a man in a checkered suit around in this hell hole?" I asked, but all I received from him was smirk then a mouthful of blood mixed with spit. Seeing that this was going to get annoying real fast with me getting nowhere, I wiped the blood from my face, then gave him two hard punches to his face causing more blood to spew out from his nose and mouth. He attempted to grab at me to return his own hits, but I just merely swatted away his arms then gave him few more hits breaking his nose in the process. "Now next time I'm not going to hit you, I'm just going to end you for good this time, by dumping you out into the wastes leaving you with only a butter knife as for a weapon as the radscorpions have a fest on your crippled body as your eaten alive. Now. . .let's try this one more damn time, tell me what I want to know." I said making my point clear.

The convict spoke with out of fear, telling me everything. Apparently they where all spread out and around the prison they were held up in, which they also have control over as well, how the NCR thought giving a bunch of prisoners dynamite would be a good idea, was just idiotic. A man in a checkered suit was also spotted heading down to the town of Primm just a few miles south of here, that's where I would first start looking for him and figuring out for why I was put in that situation. Now that I had what I wanted, just stood up, pulled out my revolver walking to the rest of the townsfolk to finish off the last of the gang, waving behind me to Trudy who was watching the interrogation "He's all yours." After a mere few seconds I heard the reloading of her rifle and the convict trying to plea to her not to shot him, but that didn't help. She pulled the trigger and I merely shrugged and kept on my way determined on what I planned on next.

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><p><span><strong>3rd Person P.O.V<strong>

The last of the Powder Gangers were killed, but they still managed to injure a few more of the townsfolk that were forced into a close combat fight them with weapons when they ran out of bullets. A few sobs could be heard from a few of the townsfolk who were still alive, but they were mixed tears of joy and pain of beating of the powder gangers and to the ones that didn't survive the entire fight. Karma stood next to Sunny, who was petting her dog Cheyenne, looking over the still bodies of the convicts.

The small skirmish was new to Sunny, seeing the shocked look she had looking over the after math, she's never seen nor been in this kind of fight other than with the common gecko running amok or the occasional radscorpion messing around the town's water lines ready to end the problem with a few good shots in the creatures, but was still taken and grateful that she manged to survive the ordeal.

Karma though, she was unaffected by the carnage that took place, after years of wandering the wastes, moving from place to place, fighting against from the savagely ruthless Raiders who pillage, rape, and murder just out of boredom to unforgiving relentless Slavers who hold no qualms in any pain they inflict on the ones they capture or born into slavery. Getting use things like this was unnervingly easy for her, but it's what you had to do if you wanted to survive to see the next day of light.

Because out here in the wastes, War. . . War never changes.

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><p><strong>~ Sorry, for the long wait yes I promised the next chapters to be a long one, but I got caught up in my between some filming and looking for another job, I haven't uploaded as soon as I wanted to, but I promise you this time chapter 5 is long with Arc's journey beginning out of Goodsprings and into the waste and it'll be uploaded sooner then this one was, also I've noticed I'm getting quite the views, but no Reviews, so I would really some reviews whether they are bad or good it would be good to hear some feedback on the story and not how the Letters In Each Word Are Capitalized xD so please I ask of you kind hearted people, who take the time out to read my story to give meh some reviews, if you do, you'll get cookies and orange juice, no, no milk -_- ~<br>**


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